The Life and Times of Moosille
by smiles'n'dialls
Summary: What really happened that day Moose and Camille met? How was it that they became best friends after Moose joined that dance class? The movie only shows what happened to them at NYU. Read on to find out their friendship throughout their school years. Kinda one-shotty. Rated for later chapters.
1. Cooties

**A/N: I do not own Step Up or any of the characters except my own.**

* * *

"Robert Alexander! The...third."

The eccentric dance teacher called out to the sea of third graders waiting in anticipation for their class to begin.

Her name was Mrs. Wellington.

She was as crazy as the angle of her spectacles that sat perched on the tip of her nose. Her hair had wisps of grey flowing through it and her tight spandex weren't very flattering to her aging figure. She was unlike any other teacher that taught at Baltimore Elementary- she was more spontaneous like a dance teacher should be, not like the boring Math teachers who kept droning on and on about how mathematics change the world.

"Uh...here. B-but you can call me Moose..." The curly haired boy spoke up.

He was nervous.

Of course he should be, he was the only boy in the dance class as it was thought to be 'too girly' by all the people in the grade to participate.

But dance _inspired_ him.

He would watch the graceful ballerinas leap across the stage or the street dancers on the ends of each corner having a battle.

When he watched them, he felt like he was in a different world.

A world where no one judged people on their differences, just the way their body could move to the beat.

He aspired to be like them.

So that's why he was there, awkwardly sitting in the room full of snotty girls who were sniggering and making snide comments about his presence in the room.

"How very generous of you, Mr. uhh-Moose." She smiled but Moose could tell it was one of those 'you're-weird-but-I-don't-want-to-insult-you' kind of smiles. The type that didn't reach her eyes.

"Everyone must choose a partner for dancing. You will have this partner for the rest of the your times spent in these classes so pick someone who you are not likely to bicker with."

As Mrs. Wellington said this, Moose suddenly developed some kind of disease that repelled all dancers away from him within a 5-metre radius.

He sighed, knowing it was a bad idea to go to this class. He watched as all the other girls partnered up evenly leaving him with no one to dance with.

"Ah. Ok. Well we'll work something out later, Goose. Let's begin!" Moose didn't even bother to correct his name as Mrs. Wellington started showing the steps to the dance.

Moose had already developed the trait of becoming a fast learner.

He had memorized all the steps to the dance perfectly in just thirty minutes.

"Alright everyone! You all seem to be familiar with the steps now so let's start the musi-" her sentence was cut off by a girl who suddenly rushed into the room.

"Ah, Ms. Gage. So you've finally decided to grace us with your presence I see. And what is your excuse this time, may I ask?"

The brown haired girl blushed lightly but just stared at the floor.

"Well you have no choice of a dance partner, so you're going to have to go with...Uh..." she gave Moose a confused look.

"Moose." he corrected.

"Ah! Yes! Well I'm hoping you already know the steps dearie or Moose here will be out of luck!" she shuffled away and Moose glanced at the strange girl beside him, but not for long because the song 'I Won't Dance' started blaring from the speakers.

_'I won't dance, don't ask me.'_

Moose hesitated for a second before performing a small tap routine he had just learned. A few box steps here and there, and the occasional pas de bourrée. He looked towards the girl beside him, expecting for her to fail.

Turns out, the girl did know the choreography and they danced great together. Left enough time for the other to do their part and danced in synchronized form.

The song finished quickly and reluctantly so, afraid of the mysteries of the female mind, Moose pulled the girl he had never met before into his arms for the finale.

She bent backwards and gazed toward all the other couples.

She could see the embarrassment on their faces as each of them held their partners in their arms.

"Bravo! Bravo!" an enormous amount of clapping and cheering came from Mrs. Wellington as the song ended.

Moose smiled at the girl still dangling in his arms and she grinned back.

"EWWWWWWW!" Some girls screamed while others chanted "Moose and Camille, sitting in a tree, K-I-S-S-I-N-G!"

Camille immediately shot up from Moose's arms and stood stiffly next to him, a fierce blush on each of their faces.

This only caused an eruption of laughter from everyone in the room.

As they giggled and shrieked, Mrs. Wellington sighed. "One day you girls will wish you were Camille, dancing with such a handsome boy." this only caused Camille to blush even deeper, if that was possible. She looked over at Moose who smirked sheepishly back, though there was still large amounts of pink overpowering his cheek bone's natural skin tone.

"Alright, class dismissed." Mrs. Wellington said grimly after what felt like centuries. Camille dashed out of the room as fast as she could, not looking back.

She could still hear the girls chanting "Moose and Camille, sitting in a tree, K-I-S-S-I-N-G!" all she wanted to do was flee as fast and as far away from all this terribleness.

* * *

"Have a good day at school!"

Camille's foster Dad's voice rang through the air as she closed the door behind her and started walking to school.

Of course she had tried to fake being sick, but she couldn't fool her parents.

She was just going to face the issue head on.

She danced with a boy.

_A boy!_

That was like social suicide for girls in the third grade!

Maybe she could convince her parents to transfer her to another school, but they wouldn't accept a reason like that. She sighed loudly as she contemplated what the day would likely bring.

* * *

Camille shyly walked into the classroom and sat at her assigned seating. Next to her 'friend' Nicole.

"Like I know we can't change seats but like, don't get too close, I don't want to catch your _cooties_." She stated.

This deeply hurt Camille, would there be anyone who would want to talk to her?

The morning classes flew by.

The class wasn't able to have recess because there was a huge rain storm.

So they had to read their personal books. There was a collected groan from everyone except Camille.

She was secretly glad she wouldn't have to face everyone who knew she had cooties. She just hoped her best friends wouldn't feel like that, after all, they were best friends, so they wouldn't mind things like that, right?

Lunch came by all too quickly and to Camille's dismay, the sun was shining and there wasn't a cloud in sight.

She sighed as she retrieved her ham sandwich from her lunchbox and headed to the cafeteria.

Camille noticed that her group was sitting in a circle on the concrete floor so she headed over to them. She was about to take a seat next to her closest friend, Annie, when what she said shocked Camille.

"What are you doing? Don't sit with us! Haven't you heard? You have cooties! _Get your gross infection away from us_!" Tears sprang to Camille's eyes as she stared into her ex-best friend's eyes.

She realized that all the 'BFF' cards she had gotten from her didn't mean anything.

She wiped her eyes dry and turned in the opposite direction towards a deserted table.

Tears were still spilling over onto the plastic wrap of her sandwich when a voice interrupted her thoughts.

"Uh...hi." It was Moose. The boy who basically ruined her life. She just stared at him, willing for the tears to stop.

"I'm Moose. Well Robert Alexander the third really, but yeah, Moose." again Camille said nothing.

All she wanted to do was rip out those perfectly shaped curls of his for stressing her out so much. "You know, when people introduce themselves you're meant to do it too." she looked up to a face which looked slightly annoyed.

"Camille" she said, barely audible.

"Chameleon? Like the reptile? Awesome! You could go around being like a dinosaur! Rawr! Raaaaaaawr!" Moose continued to pretend to be a dinosaur and stomp around the grass surrounding the table.

Camille giggled as she said "No! Camille!" there was still a smile on her face.

Moose sat down across from her.

"So... Chameleon." he grinned cheekily and flicked a few stray curls away from his face "Why are you crying?" his smile faltered.

Camille took a deep breath to make sure her voice wouldn't crack, then explained. Her voice was icy.

"No one likes me. Because of you. They say I have cooties so no one will talk to me." Camille looked down at her lap with sadness displayed all over her face.

"Hey," his voice was soft, knowing he had upset her. "Don't worry about it. Truth is, the exact same thing happened to me." there was a tinge of sadness in his voice. "But I'm over it now! You know why?" he grinned devilishly over at Camille.

"Why?" she questioned, curious.

"Because we can be best friends!" At this, Camille's face lit up.

"Really?" she looked up at him with sparkling eyes.

Moose smiled warmly. "Really really."

* * *

**Ahhhhh, Elementary School. Don't you guys miss it? Neither do I. Thanks for reading! Please review :)**


	2. Hats

**A/N: Sorry for not updating in so long guys, I've actually had this for a while now, but I was busy moving countries and new schools and blarghhsdgj. But here is the next chapter. I promise the next one won't take so long. And this chapter is set in seventh grade because it's easier to show their personalities. I **_**will**_** be updating soon. Thanks for reading!**

* * *

"And therefore, toasters don't toast toast, toast toasts toast." Moose proudly concluded his presentation to the class. Only two people were clapping- his seventh grade teacher and trusty best friend, Camille. The rest of the class just stared at him blankly.

"What?" One student asked.

"I don't even know." Another finished for him

"That was the worst-" A boy started to say, but was cut off by the teacher.

"Remember what we said about put-downs, everyone, bullying is not tolerated in this class." he said sternly. "Now Polly, you next." A girl with blonde pigtails skipped to the front of the class while Moose headed back to his seat, his head hanging low.

"You're as stupid as your stupid haircut, curly freak." Jackson, the boy who sat next to him, whispered bluntly. Then Moose realized something. He looked around the whole class but there was no one like him- no one with curly hair. He suddenly felt self-conscious about his hair, which he'd never before payed a thought to.

"No it wasn't that bad!" Camille was trying to convince Moose that he didn't really humiliate himself. They were walking around the school grounds to kill the time left of lunch.

"Really? Because everyone else thought so." Moose's voice was monotonous; his face looked like someone had snatched his favourite teddy away from him.

"Hey, look everyone, it's that curly toaster kid!" their heads snapped in the direction of several other seventh graders shouting things at him.

"Curly idiot!"

"Toaster brains!"

"Only a mother could love hair like that!"

Moose's cheeks were red with embarrassment.

"Hey! You-" Camille tried to stand up for her best friend.

"No Camille don't! They'll only hate you too!" Camille was angry at them for obvious reasons, but she couldn't understand why Moose wouldn't let her give them a piece of her mind. She just scowled at him and continued.

Moose was frantically trying to stop Camille when suddenly he was pushed to the ground and there was a stabbing pain in his head where it hit the concrete.

"Hah! That ought to shake those curls off your head! Come on, Camille, you don't need to hang out with that loser anymore." the bully shouted over.

Moose could hear Camille's footsteps shuffle away from him, but he just couldn't bring himself to get up off the floor to stop her. He could hear her shouting abuse at them from where he was lying.

"You _bitch_!You think that's funny, Jackson?! Oh yeah, it's soo funny to get pushed onto the hard concrete! Something worse could've happened to him! You could've knocked him out! That's what you've stooped down to now? That's pathetic! Just go crying home to your mother! You're the most dumb, pathetic person I know!"

Jackson felt so much anger well up inside him; he had never been called a pathetic bitch by a girl before. He didn't even know of a guy who had been called a bitch before. His face flushed red with embarrassment and anger. He couldn't even stop himself. He only realized what he had done when his fist collided with her soft, delicate face and she fell to the ground. His friends were horrified.

"Dude! Jackson! You hit a girl!"

"Not cool man, not cool!"

"Who does that?"

"I didn't mean to! I-I'm sorry, Camille!" Jackson was freaking out.

Camille, lying dazed on the ground heard his footsteps rushing away behind his group. Her head throbbed painfully. Before she hit the ground, her head collided with the limestone bricking that lined the area where various plants grew.

"Camille? Camille!" She could hear Moose's worried screams before all sounds drowned out and it all went black.

* * *

There was a rubbery smell in the air.

All she could feel was the painful throbbing on the back of her head.

Then she remembered what had happened.

The bullying.

The punch.

The limestone.

The concrete.

She winced at the memory.

"Cammie? You awake?" she could hear Moose's soft whispers.

Then she remembered what happened to him. Her eyes flew open.

"Moose! How are you? Are you ok?" she asked, regretting how fast she did it as the pain in her head increased.

"Woah, woah, take it easy, Camille. So you're the one that gets knocked out and you ask me how I'm feeling? Girl you have to get your priorities straight."

"I got knocked out?"

"Yeah! Oh, Cam, it was horrible to watch! He just punched you with no hesitation! Bit pathetic if you ask me, he just ran away. But how are you feeling?" Moose had a worried look on his face.

Camille groaned. "It hurts. Badly. What time is it? How were you allowed to stay here?"

Moose grinned deviously. "It's 1:54, I pretended to be asleep so I could stay here with you, they had to look me over for any injuries anyway. All I got was this bruise on my fore head and a graze on my knee." He proceeded to show her the dark coloured skin covering half his fore head and the bandage covering his knee. "But looks like you got it a lot worse, Chameleon." Moose grimaced as he handed her a pocket mirror. As soon as she saw it, she gasped. The skin surrounding her left eye and upper cheek was deep purple and she had a bandage around her head.

"Yeah, turns out when your head smashed against the limestone there was lots of blood, apparently they can't get it off..."

Moose saw her horrified expression.

"But don't worry! The nurse said head wounds tend to look worse than they actually are so you'll be fine." he plastered a dopey smile on his face. "Oh by the way, your parents have to work late tonight and they can't get off to see you, so looks like you're spending time after school with your amazing best friend." Moose pointed to himself. "So it's pizza for dinner." Moose said as he returned to his bed across from her. "No point going back to class now." He smiled mischievously.

Camille lay her head down again. Truthfully, she was glad she was spending her time after school with Moose, she had this feeling that her foster parents didn't really like her that much and Mrs. Alexander was as close to a mother as she had. She wished that she could have the same bond as Moose had with his mother.

"Camille, wake up"

Moose's voice drifted her out of her dream world.

"Heads up, Mom's here." She lifted her body up slowly to see Moose sitting casually on the other bed, then Mrs. Alexander walked in. Her jaw dropped to the floor.

"My goodness! _My baby_!"

Camille thought she was heading for Moose but instead made a beeline for Camille.

Mrs. A grabbed her into a tight hug which made Camille's heart fill with warmth. She couldn't remember the last time someone had hugged her like this.

"Are you ok? Look at that bruise! And your bandage! I heard what happened. That boy should be expelled, but knowing those public school rules he'll likely only get a suspension." she had an angry scowl on her face.

"And Moosey!" she wailed and headed over to him to plant kisses all over his face.

"Ew! Stop! Mom! Mooooooom! Eghhhh" Moose was disgusted. Camille giggled.

"Look at the mess of you two." Mrs. A sighed "People are going to think I'm an abusive parent..." she trailed off.

Moose and Camille must have been one strange sight.

As they walked through the school they saw all kinds of people gaping and staring at them.

They walked past the incident sight, the limestone was stained deep red and there were people scrubbing at it frantically with disinfectants.

"Oh god..." Camille groaned when she saw it. She felt sorry to have to make people clean up that mess. Moose just chuckled.

"Good one, Camille." he said sarcastically with a grin. Camille just glared at him.

* * *

"You have ice-cream all over you."

Camille giggled as Moose gave himself a white moustache with the vanilla ice-cream they were eating. But her smile faltered quickly as she looked at the clock. It was 8:00PM.

All Camille wanted was to feel loved by her foster parents and get hugs and kisses from them like Moose got from his parents.

Moose noticed her sudden sadness, and squeezed her hand reassuringly. Their eyes met and Camille smiled, but it was a sad smile.

"No matter what happens, I'll always be there for you, Chameleon. Best friends till the end." Moose did the 'blow-it-up' handshake with her which made her feel a little better.

At least she had him to count on.

"Camille, honey, I think your parents are here!" Mrs. A's voice rang up from downstairs.

Camille suddenly felt hopeful- maybe they did care about her after all!

She rushed downstairs with Moose close by her side to only find disappointment.

"Ayyyyyyyo sister-from-another-mister! Let's go! We need to get back to yo crib fo some serious partaying!"

It was the voice of Skinny.

Which meant that it was her brother Tyler picking her up and not her foster parents.

"Skinny shut up! I'll be back in a min, guys. Gotta get little sis." Tyler was shouting back to his waiting friends.

Camille groaned as she looked at Moose. He had an apologetic look on his face- they rarely discussed it but he knew all about her pain with her foster parents.

"I just wish they would care." she whispered. He nodded in agreement.

"Holy sh-" Tyler corrected himself when he saw Mrs. Alexander's presence. "shittaki mushrooms, Camille! Damn whose ass am I kicking tonight?" Mrs. A gave a disapproving look but Camille loved her brother.

"Don't worry about it, Ty" she smiled. But it immediately vanished from her face. "Where are they?" Tyler felt sadness for his sister. By 'they' he knew she meant their foster parents. He had given up on them long ago but it would seem that she hadn't.

"Uh... You know, they had to do some... Stuff." he covered up lamely. He looked apologetic. Camille slowly nodded, but he could see the sadness in her eyes.

"I-I'm just going to get my bag from upstairs." she said, her voice cracking a little with tears.

"Ayyyyo hurry up!" Skinny whined.

"Skinny shut up!" Tyler screamed back in frustration.

Camille dashed upstairs to retrieve her orange backpack and was about to head back towards the door again when she was enveloped in a huge hug.

She didn't have to look up to know who it was; she could feel his curls slightly brushing against her forehead.

"It's ok, Camille, it's ok." Moose whispered into her ear. Camille wondered how he always knew when she was sad, he only hugged her when she was sad, and he probably gave the greatest hugs ever.

"I know. I just really miss them sometimes." Camille breathed. They rarely touched the topic of Camille's real parents because it made her so sad. They were killed in a car accident when she was only six, even though it was years ago she still had vivid memories of them. Moose thought it to be best if he didn't say anything, just hugged her as tight as he could.

* * *

"Damn, Camille, that got a hell of a lot worse!"

Camille knew Moose's words were true. She had looked in the mirror this morning and her eye had nearly swollen shut.

"Not too bad yourself, Moosey boy." The bruise on his forehead had gone from a deep violet to a full on black.

"His fist is hard."

Moose agreed. "And the concrete." he touched his bruise gingerly. "Looks like they can't get that stain out, good job on making your mark on the school." Moose winked at her. Camille blushed, looked over to the limestone and sure enough, there was a pink stain. At least it wasn't red anymore.

She groaned.

"Let's just get to class."

As they strolled into class, there was a collective gasp.

Camille couldn't imagine what they must have looked like.

Jackson looked at his hands in horror.

"I-I-I'm so sorry. I-I-I'm going to the principal's office, just in case you were wondering." Jackson couldn't stop stuttering and trembling. Eventually he finally shuffled out the classroom. They turned around to find the whole class gaping at them.

"What? You guys never fought a lion before?" Moose joked.

He couldn't believe that it was still going on after what had happened.

People were still teasing him about his curly hair. He had gotten used to most taunts, but it only really affected him one day while not paying attention in English class.

"You know," Moose looked over to see who was whispering to him, it was that blonde pigtails girl Polly. "She wouldn't be like that if it wasn't for your stupid hair. She defended you, if you never had those stupid curls then none of this would have happened."

Moose felt his heart ache. He couldn't help but think she was right. He looked over to Camille who was now cradling her face in her hand, obviously not paying attention either. Thankfully the bell rang for lunch, because Moose felt his eyes stinging.

_How could he do this to his best friend?_

He ran out of class despite Camille calling after him.

She found him sitting next to the stained wall.

Moose had his legs close to his chest and his hands were covering his face.

"Moose?" Camille sat close next to him. "Moose, look at me."

Moose removed his hands from his face. His eyes were teary.

"It's my fault, Cam!" he wailed.

"What's your fault?" Camille was puzzled.

"You! That never would have happened to you if it wasn't for me!" he kept wailing.

"Oh, Moose!" she was shocked. "It's not your fault! Don't let them get to you!"

"It's hard. I can deal with the hair taunts, but when I think that my hair was the cause of what happened to you makes me feel like cutting it all off." he returned his hands to his face.

"Robert Alexander the third." Camille said sternly. "None of this is your fault. You have curls that models would wish for, never cut them off just to satisfy those stupid bullies!"  
Moose looked up at this. His gaze reached hers and he brushed his finger against her head.  
"You think I could be a model?" he grinned. Camille rolled her eyes.

"Totally." She knew he was ok now; it was a rare sight to see Moose cry and she never wanted to see it again.

* * *

"Hey, hey, Cam!" Moose shouted over to his best friend.

They were at the Baltimore Mall. Each had been advised not to attend their dance classes until their injuries got better, and they were lost without it. There were too many empty afternoons for their liking. That's why they were spending time at the mall.

"Yeah?" Camille rushed over to Moose who was pointing at a clothing store which had a vast selection of hats in the window.

"Ah Moose you're not still being bullied are you? Why didn't you tell me? I told you to not let it get to you."

His gaze dropped to the floor.

"I tried, Cam. I just can't do it." He felt embarrassed about his confession.

"It's ok Moose, just tell me if they ever do it again and I'll be there to whoop their ass." Moose laughed but Camille knew he would never, ever let her do that.

"No!" Camille was giggling at Moose's hat choices. Right now he was sporting a pink leather fedora.

"Well I don't know! Why don't you pick one?" Moose wasn't amused by her giggling fit.

"Fine! I have more fashion sense than you, anyway." she was still giggling.

"Hey, you're talking to future model, here." He smirked back. She just shook her head.

"This one's nice." Moose was wearing a dark grey woollen beanie that covered most of his hair. Only a few stray curls poked out from underneath.

"Yeah, you're right; you're the one with the fashion sense, Cammie. Alright let's go pay!"

Moose headed towards the counter but not before he stopped by a pair of light blue capris pants.

"Ugh, no, Moose, they wouldn't suit your body shape." Camille stated.

"You been checking out my body shape, Cam?" he said with a sly smile. Camille blushed deeply.

"Just go buy your stupid hat, Robert."

* * *

**Just so you know, I'm planning to get into the more romance side of things in the next few chapters. Please review! :)**


	3. Winter Formal

**A/N: Heh. Heheh. Heheheh. So I said I wouldn't take so long to update but... it's clear that didn't happen. I've actually had this one for a while I'm not sure why I haven't uploaded it. ANYWAY. Enjoy. Set in 8th grade.**

**Step Up is not mine.**

* * *

"Ugh really Cammie? Alex Stanley? You can do _waaaay_ better than that popular douche." Moose rolled his eyes at Camille's choice of infatuation.

"He's really nice! And _really_cute too..." she retorted

"Ew Camille. I'm a dude. I don't like talking about how 'cute' Alex Stanley is." Moose shuddered at the thought.

"Like you can talk Robert." she said with a glare "Nicki Sanders? She's like 8th grade royalty. And she isn't even remotely nice."

Moose blushed slightly. "...Touché."

Camille smirked at him. "So... You gonna make a move on her for the Winter Formal?" She asked.

"Ehhhh." Moose scrunched up his face. "She's really hot and all, but you're right, she is basically a female dog." Camille giggled at this. Moose knew how much she hated when he used swearing to describe people. That's why he did it indirectly.

"And what about Alex?" Moose wiggled his eyebrows suggestively.

Camille sighed. "It's not like I can just ask him! He's insanely popular! Well even if you don't have a date you're still going right?" she asked, suddenly worried.

Moose snorted with an offended look. "Of course! Only losers don't go, and I'm definitely not a loser."

"If you say so." Camille smirked at him as he glared back.

"Now come on, the Step-Father can drive you home after dinner."

"Thank the lord! Have you seen those streets! I could've gotten murdered! Or worse... They could've stole my shoes!" Moose said with a horrified expression.  
Camille rolled her eyes.

"Let's go, drama queen."

* * *

He plagued her thoughts.

His dazzling white smile, messy black hair and piercing blue eyes; Alex was completely dreamy.

The way he had slightly defined muscles under his shirt, and how he could make any girl melt with just one gaze.

_ 'Shut up Camille!_' she harshly told herself._ 'It's just a stupid crush!'_ But she couldn't help herself. She couldn't resist the charms of Alex Stanley.

Suddenly, the bell rang, signaling that it was the end of classes for the day. The only thing Camille learned in that lesson was the location of freckles on Alex's arms. Oops. She cursed under her breath for being so mushy. Her and Moose were planning to go over to his house to swim, so she started to pack up her things and meet up with him outside. She was just about to walk out the door when someone stopped her. Curious, she turned around. It was none other than Alex Stanley himself.

"Hey, Uh... It's Camille, right?" he said with an adorable half smile that made butterflies erupt in her stomach._ He knew her name!_ Speechless, she simply nodded. "So uh, I was thinking... Do you want to go to the Winter Formal with me?" he asked, with another half grin.

It felt as if Camille's stomach burst with joy, she couldn't believe it!

_ Alex-freaking-Stanley just asked her to the dance!_

"I would love to." she responded, with a huge smile on her face.

"Great, I'll see you Saturday." he left with a wink that left Camille immobilized. Did that really just happen?!

Meanwhile, Moose was patiently waiting for Camille.

Where was she?

As he waited he was wondering about the dance. What was he going to do? Was he going to ask out a girl? Well of course there was always Camille but would she think it would be weird? His thoughts were interrupted by the shrieks of what sounded like a lunatic.

"Moose! _Mooseeeeee!_" Camille screamed to her best friend waiting by a pole. "Moose! Moose! Moose! Moose! MOOSE!"

"Woah, woah, Cammie! Calm down! What happened?! Remember, calm." Moose said, shocked at his best friend's entrance.

"You won't BELIEVE what just happened." Camille had on the smile of a crazed idiot. Moose nodded for her to go on. "Alex just asked me to the dance!"

Moose made a face but quickly covered it. Alex was a JERK. Why couldn't she see that? But seeing her so happy, he didn't want to ruin the moment for her.

"That's great!" Moose exclaimed. But he was lying. He made a promise to himself that if that horrible Alex ever hurt his Chameleon, he would get revenge.

Saturday came much too quickly for Moose, but the complete opposite for Camille.

Finally, the day had come.

The Winter Formal.

Camille was going to meet Moose at his house so his parents could drive them there- her foster parents didn't do anything for her that caused a disruption in their Camille was excited would be an understatement. She was way beyond that. She finally got the chance of her middle school dreams to dance with one of the most popular guys at school!

As Camille passed by the mirror, she had to admit, she looked good. Her dress, coloured deep red, was strapless and came to just above the knee. There was a black band around her waist and below that, intricate designs of black lace spilling over the fabric. She teamed this with simple black ballet flats. Her brown, mousy hair sat in small ringlets cascading down her shoulders. She even wore some makeup to accentuate her chestnut-brown eyes.

Finally, she was ready.

"Oh my god Camille! You. Look. GORGEOUS! You truly are turning into a beautiful young woman." Camille blushed at Mrs. Alexander's words. Moose's mother was always like this, she even had tears in her eyes at this very moment. As touching as the message was, she hated the fact that people got sad about her growing up. "Moose is upstairs, honey, tell me when you're ready to go."

Moose heard Camille's arrival from his mother's delighted gushing.

It was just a dress, it couldn't make her look that different, right?

Boy, was he wrong.

As Camille opened the door, Moose's breath caught in his mouth. She literally was breathtaking.

"Damn girl! That Alex is one lucky guy!" Moose exclaimed with a grin while Camille blushed. She hated how she would blush at _everything._

"Hey Cam, tie this bow tie for me?" Moose asked. When she was done, Moose spun around, showing off his outfit. Camille giggled.

"Well don't you look _dashing_!" It was simple, really, he was wearing a plain black suit with a red tartan bow tie for a touch of character. As usual his hair was an untidy mess of curls.

"Shall we?" Moose opened up a hole in his arm and grinned.

"We shall!" Camille looped her arm through his.

* * *

"For the last time Moose, Superman is a way better hero than Iron Man!" Moose and Camille were fighting about superheroes. Again. They were walking towards the entrance of the school.

"Nuh-Uh! Iron Man is waaaaay better." Moose said like it was the most obvious thing in the world.

"Hah. Puuuh-lease. Iron Man just bought all of his equipment, Superman is a real weapon of mass destruction. "

"But Iron Man doesn't need that, he's already a weapon of mass seduction" Moose said with his best seductive voice. At this, they both burst out laughing.

But their laughter abruptly stopped.

They were at the entrance of the dance, and they could see people walking in with their fancy dresses and hear the slight buzz of the music.

What they could also see were two people. Two people oblivious to their surroundings, two people who were kissing passionately. Once they saw that messy black hair of his, both Moose and Camille knew who it was.

Alex.

"W-what?" tears sprang to Camille's eyes.

Alex pushed the other girl away. "Uh...hey, Camille..." he said sheepishly.

Camille didn't say anything.

Tears rolling down her face, she turned and ran to the girl's bathroom.

"Aw, Camille!" Moose called after her, but she wouldn't stop running.

Moose shot his best death glare towards Alex who only glowed red with embarrassment.  
"I tried telling her. I really did. I said that you were too much of a _jerk_" he paused for dramatic effect "to go out with you. But no. She defended you. Saying you were secretly a really nice person. Well I guess you proved her wrong, huh? I hope you're happy." Moose practically spat out the words to Alex who now resembled a tomato. "This isn't over." Moose once again shot his glare and ran off to find Camille.

Moose could tell he was in the right place when he heard quiet sobs coming from the room.

"Cammie?" he said softly.

He wanted to punch Alex right when he left but he would've gotten expelled for that.

But she didn't reply.

"Camille?" he tried again.

He wanted to go in there but she was in the girl's bathroom, and there were teachers patrolling the place.

Her voice was thick.

"I'm okay, Moose, I'll come out soon. I'll meet you at the dance"

Moose was reluctant to leave her, but sensing she wanted to be alone, he did so. He started walking back to the dance, adjusting his bowtie. Alex was no where to be seen._ 'Dirty, lying scum'_ Moose thought bitterly as he returned to the festive room. He made his way over to the snack table.

Moose was in the middle of devouring a cookie when he finally saw her.

Camille.

She sat down at a table and sighed. Moose quickly brushed the crumbs from his hands and headed over to her. As he did so, the song_ 'You Are the Only Exception'_ started playing throughout the room.

"Hey." Moose said when he reached her. She only gazed longingly at him with sad eyes. "You wanna dance Camille?" he asked sincerely.

"Oh Moose, you have no idea how much that would mean to me." Camille wiped the rest of her tears away on the back of her hand and followed Moose to the dance floor where many couples were already dancing. How it could be called dancing Camille didn't know, each couple just stood there shifting their weight from foot to foot. But it was the closeness that each one craved.

Camille wrapped her arms around Moose's neck. He put his arms around her waist and pulled her close. Camille rested her head in the crook of his neck so they were basically hugging.

"Thank you." Camille whispered into his neck

"No problem" he murmured, his mouth close to her ear. Moose could feel wet drops seep through his shirt and onto his skin.

She was crying.

He hated seeing her like this. All he wanted to do was make her happy again and see her smile. He didn't accuse her of over-reacting, Moose knew all about Camille's abandonment issues as a child being raised in foster care.

Camille breathed in deeply. Moose smelled good. He smelled of promise and friendship. She loved that he would do this for her, and not care what anyone thought.

"Chameleon, just remember, there are plenty more lizards in the desert."

Camille laughed at his attempt to change the saying 'there are plenty more fish in the sea' to suit her reptile nickname.

She finally lifted her head and looked at him directly in the eye. His gaze was soft looking back towards her. Camille had never noticed how beautiful his eyes were before- light brown, like the colour of chocolate. And his hair. His beautiful, unruly, curly hair.

"Thank you, Moose, really. I should've listened to you. Alex is a jerk. I'm sorry it took this much to realise."

There were still tears in her eyes. It ripped Moose's heart in two to see her like this. He wiped the fresh tears away that were now making tracks down her face.

"Don't sweat it. _Everybody makes mistakes, everybody has those days,_" Camille giggled as Moose sang Hannah Montana's tune. He was tone-deaf but it was still extremely funny.

"_Nobody's perfect._" Camille sang along.

Now Moose sang to a different song. The song they were dancing to.

"_But you are the only exception._" Moose gave a small smile.

When he said this, Camille's heart fluttered.

"Oh, Moose." She said as she pulled him into a tight embrace. She wished this moment would last forever, just her and her best friend against the whole, wide world.

* * *

**A/N: Fluffy at the end, I know. I just love fluff though. If you didn't guess, the songs are _You Are the Only Exception _by Lady Antebellum and _Nobody's Perfect_** **by Hannah Montana/Miley Cyrus.**

**I PROMISE it won't take so long this time.**

**ANDDDDD there is a TO BE CONTINUED.**

**But middle school crushes. Ugh. Who wants to relive _those _again?**


End file.
